Feeling the heat

The Royals are throwing hard out of the gate. Plus, I'm still thinking of Jac Caglianone's missile, MJ Melendez is off to a slow start, and an early camp surprise.

Cole Ragans made his first appearance of the spring on Monday against the Sacramento Athletics and looked like June Cole Ragans. That is to say, the velocity was present, and it demanded attention. The lefty averaged 96.9 mph on the four-seamer, peaking at 98.3 mph. Overall, he threw 34 pitches, with half of them his fastball.

Overall, it was a day for pitchers as guys like Luinder Avila and Steven Zobac both impressed. Avila got three swings on his curve…and three whiffs. He also averaged 97.6 mph on his four-seam. Zobac was coming in at 94.8 mph on his fastball and maxed out at an impressive 96.8 mph. He got into a spot of trouble in the sixth where he stumbled recording that final out, but otherwise looked sharp. Remember this time last year when the bullpen was stocked with guys who didn’t throw with authority? This is a most welcome change.

The game ended in a 1-1 draw. The lone run came on a Cavan Biggio home run in the fifth. The Royals remain undefeated in the Cactus League

It’s been two days and, just like you, I’m still thinking about the missile hit by Jac Caglianone on Sunday.

I have never wanted a GIF to have audio more than the one posted above. The sound...The SOUND. I don’t know how to describe it but it was loud and it was pure.

The official StatCast data has the ball flying 435 feet. That’s impressive, but I’m always skeptical of how the ball slices through the desert air in the spring. What I am not skeptical about is the exit velocity—115.4 mph. That’s real. That’s spectacular.

For reference, here are the five hardest-hit balls by Royals batters in 2024.

Everything impressive always circles back to Bobby Witt Jr., doesn’t it? Not only did Witt have the four hardest-hit balls for the Royals last year, but he owned eight of the top 10 and 11 of the top 15. But Witt’s hardest-hit home run was a laser off Ty Blach in Colorado last July at 112 mph.

I’ll repeat: Caglianone’s shot was at 115.4 mph off the bat. Here’s what he had to say about it after the game.

Earlier today I was talking to (Mike) Sweeney and it was just, you don’t need to swing 100 percent. Just kind of dial it back in, just make contact. I got the slider up, took it. Kind of got the feel for that pitch. And then swung a little too hard when I fouled off the pitch prior, and I was like, alright, let’s actually try to dial it back.

I look forward to Rex Hudler excitedly explaining how Caglianone used “a 50-percent swing!” or something to get a hit. Whatever works. And if it works like that…don’t change.

Let’s check in on MJ Melendez to see how that new swing is working for him. The early results? Not great.

PA 1 - 1 swing/1 miss - strikeout
PA 2 - 2 swings/1 miss, 1 foul - walk
PA 3 - 2 swings/2 misses - strikeout

PA 4 - 2 swings/2 misses - strikeout
PA 5 - 2 swings/1 miss - ground out
PA 6 - 2 swings/1 miss, 1 foul - strikeout

The good news is that the contact Melendez made came on a 3-1 fastball with a 104.5 mph exit velocity.

The bad news is everything else. He’s missing the baseball on nearly three-quarters of his swings.

Maybe it’s a timing thing at this point. Maybe it’s the spring cliché in action that pitchers are ahead of hitters. On a scale of 1-10 my current level of concern is a solid five. It’s on my radar, but it’s not a critical issue at the moment. The contact he did make was loud. But he’s got to start doing better.

Manager Matt Quatraro was asked who among the non-roster invites are standing out early in camp.

On the mound, (Thomas) Hatch has been really good…His delivery is really good. He commands the ball really well. His velo has been a little higher than I would’ve expected, especially early in camp. But his command and poise, even in his bullpens, is really impressive.

I like questions like this because it allows for a massively open-ended response so the answer is usually the first person who comes to mind, which can be revealing. Obviously, this doesn’t mean Hatch is going to make the club, nor does it even mean he’ll survive early cuts. Yet he’s impressing the boss and that’s what one needs to do to survive.

Or maybe I’m reading too much into Quatraro’s answer and should instead chalk it up to recency bias. Hatch made his first appearance of the spring on Sunday against the White Sox. He threw two innings, striking out three and recording three ground ball outs while facing the minimum. That generally will impress, even against the White Sox.

Hatch was a late invite to camp, agreeing to a minor league deal just earlier this month. The 30-year-old right-hander was a third-round pick by the Chicago Cubs out of Oklahoma State back in 2016. He made The Show in 2020 with the Toronto Blue Jays and pitched for them through 2023 when he was waived and picked up by the Pirates. Hatch has thrown a total of 69 innings in his big league career with a strikeout rate of just under 20 percent and a walk rate that hovers slightly above 10 percent. He owns a career 4.79 ERA.

Last season, Hatch for the Hiroshima Carp in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He threw 22 innings but allowed 18 runs on five home runs.

Hatch is in Kansas City because a one-year deal he signed with the Doosan Bears of the Korea Baseball Organization back in November, collapsed after the Bears had some issues regarding his physical. He’s healthy enough for the Royals to pick him up. We’ll see how he fits into their pitching depth.